Dear Friends,
City Council next Thursday will consider a resolution to pay for architectural services for the police and municipal court building behind City Hall. Public safety has and always will be a priority for Ocean City. This is just the first step in a process to modernize a facility that is now more than a century old and completely out of compliance with federal flood requirements. For the sake of the public and police department, I feel it’s important to move forward with this important project.
The concept calls for extensive renovations to the upper floors of the existing building and construction of a new addition adjacent to it. Ground-level parking would be created beneath both structures.
The current plan meets several objectives:
- It preserves a historic building while at the same time stabilizing and updating it.
- It creates a new and modern facility for the police department.
- It does not eliminate parking from any other area of town. In fact, we should see a net gain of spaces.
- It does not require the purchase of any land ... or impact any other part of Ocean City.
- It does not entail any interruption of services or displacement of personnel during construction. Work will be staged so that one building will always be available.
- It will help the city meet the required 500-year flood requirement for a public safety building.
- It’s the most cost-effective approach.
I ask for your support in moving this work forward.
Seven financial institutions bid Wednesday on a $38 million bond sale that will help fund road and drainage projects, dredging and other important infrastructure work. The low bidder, Hutchinson Shockey Erley, offered a 2.18 percent interest rate that will represent almost a million dollars less in net interest than the high bid at 2.54 percent. Ocean City’s strong AA bond rating was a key factor in attaining the low interest rate, and it helps us continue our aggressive schedule of long-overdue improvements. I’d like to thank Finance Director Frank Donato and the entire city team for all their hard work.
I’m sad to report that Joe Fagan passed away earlier this week. Many who were connected to Ocean City’s youth football and baseball programs knew him as “Coach Joe.” Fagan was another example of the many people who return so much to the community and make Ocean City the special place that it is. Details on services tomorrow are available
here .
Just a reminder: The inbound lanes of the Route 52 Causeway to Ocean City will be closed tomorrow morning from about 7:45 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. to accommodate the annual Trail of Two Cities 5K. Please plan alternative routes if you’re returning to Ocean City at that time. Mark Soifer, who will retire as Ocean City’s public relations director at the end of the year after a 44-year career with the city, will be the starter for the race (The "Trail of Two Cities" was one of Mark's many memorable puns, and he was a race founder.)
Ocean City’s annual Veterans Day program will be held next Friday at 11 a.m. inside the Ocean City Tabernacle across from Veterans Memorial Park. The community’s support of veterans has always been strong and inspiring, and I urge you all to attend.
Please remember to vote on Tuesday. Polls will be open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Here are
polling locations . I hope you all have a great weekend, and don’t forget to turn your clocks back an hour on Saturday night.
Warm regards,
Jay A. Gillian Mayor
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